


A Light in the Wasteland

by PinguinoSentado



Series: Papergirl [1]
Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/F, Femslash, First Kiss, Flirting, Mild Language, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-12
Updated: 2015-12-24
Packaged: 2018-05-06 06:36:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5406746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PinguinoSentado/pseuds/PinguinoSentado
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nora arrives in Diamond City for the first time and is greeted by an angry mob and the local press.</p>
<p>Follows the story of Piper and Nora meeting, fighting, and saving each other from death.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Importance of First Impressions

Nora had never been to Diamond City before and her first time was proving something of a disappointment. Arriving at the head of a column of hungry, battered settlers, she could hardly have expected a warm welcome, but she had still hoped for better than this.

A dozen disgruntled umpires with bats and makeshift rifles had started interrogating her as soon as she had reached the gate. The whole spectacle was so bizarre that she struggled to keep from laughing even as the threat of death hung just above her head. It was no easy thing but somehow she managed. One dressed in an honest-to-God baseball uniform demanded to know if she was a Synth. Rather than ask them if anyone had ever said yes, she just said no and tried to look as harmless as possible. She was suddenly very conscious of the rifle slung across her chest.

“How do we know you ain’t all Synths?”

Nora did not need to look back at her charges to know a sorrier bunch had never been seen inside these walls. If these Synths were disguising themselves so well as to perfectly impersonate a bunch of hopeless, hungry settlers, they would not be outwitted by a few kids with sticks.

Again she gave the answer they wanted. “These people are just settlers. Their homes were burned by raiders and they’re looking for a place to start over.”

Again they glared and shuffled. Why she had spoken at all was a mystery. The man clearly thought she was lying.

To her great surprise, it was one of the future Babe Ruths who stepped in and rescued her. “Hey, you’re Nora, ain’t you? I heard of you.”

“I am,” she said, gracious and humble and ignoring that it had been a full ten minutes since her name had been given at the gate.

Still, she could hardly complain. The man turned on his companions. “This girl takes settlers around the wasteland for free, takin’ ‘em wherever they wanna go like she runs a bus or somethin’.”

Now there was an idea. If only she had the gas. And the bus.

His friends slowly lowered their baseball bats and pipe guns. One turned to shout at someone behind the ticket counter. “Alright, let them in.”

Her number one fan now raised his mask and revealed a boy of no older than 20. “You should come grab a drink, on me.”

She smiled ingratiatingly. “Thank you, but I won’t be staying long.”

“Please, I insist. I can get you a room no charge.”

This went on for several minutes and only ended when it became painfully obvious Nora had no intention of going home with him. Sulking away with his bat on his shoulder, Nora shadowed him deeper into the stadium-turned-settlement.

Or she would have. Raised voices drew her attention to another part of the stadium. A group of guards were clustered around a man wearing – _A suit? Really?_ – and watching a small, angry woman in a red trench coat menace him.

Half-wanting to see the argument anyway, Nora took her time as she drew nearer. The man looked haggard, his arms constantly raised against the violent gestures of the woman’s index finger. His guards looked just as tired. Their weapons were down, their eyes on the ceiling as often as not. A regular troublemaker, then.

“Will you just stand by and let your people be taken out from under you? Can the great mayor of Diamond City, bastion of civilization in the wasteland, really not spare the time to investigate these allegations?” the woman was demanding as she slashed about her finger. Nora was reminded of a fencing match, except this time only one appeared to be armed for the occasion.

“I’ve told you a thousand times, Piper, that wall is as solid as the day it was built,” the Mayor replied, his voice heavy and sick of repeating itself.

Piper bulled on anyway. “Your own guards have admitted that Super Mutants have been sighted on the road just outside the wall. Are you willing to risk losing Diamond City to some wandering thugs just to avoid embarrassment?”

“Our soldiers are fighting day and night against intruders of all types. Those mutants are just the latest threat to our great city, and one our brave men and women are well-equipped to handle.”

Nora had now reached the site of their little scuffle and was looking for a way past them without getting involved. As entertaining as it was to watch, it was her time in Diamond City. Why make waves?

“No one doubts the courage of these men, but are you giving them the fighting chance they deserve? Would you make them fight these monsters without weapons? Without armor?”

A few were starting to listen to her now. Nora tried to get one to move out of her way but only succeeded in shuffling about, invisible.

“What are you talking about?”

“Of course you wouldn’t. But fighting inside the Wall—“

“Are you saying I have purposely compromised the security –“

Piper somehow managed a look of predatory innocence. “Those are your words, Mayor, not mine. I’m only saying these chems are getting into the city somehow, just as Synths are getting in and out without being noticed. Surely you don’t think our guards are corrupt?”

Maybe she could just try going between them. Or just waiting until it was over. It was getting heated.

“Of course not!”

“Then why will you not acknowledge the possibility –“

“Because it’s just more fear mongering from you and that damned paper!”

Paper? Piper ran a paper?

“Publick Occurrences is the voice of the people!”

It was only when Piper whirled on Nora that she realized she was no longer just part of the background. “You, do you support the free press?”

The last few days had been hard on Nora. She had been shot at, stalked by a Deathclaw, had given most of her food and drink to her followers, and had been unable to sleep since the journey began. So, when the strange woman wearing a hat labeled ‘Press’ asked her about the tabloids in this crumbling world, it all came back in a rush.

“Why in the world would anyone need a newspaper anymore?”

A few guards chuckled. The Mayor grinned. Piper went cold and sharp as steel. “Typical,” she turned back to the Mayor for one more jab. “This isn’t over.”

Then she stormed off without a second glance. The Mayor called after her “There’s no illegal chem-dealing Synths in this city, Piper!”

Now the Mayor noticed her. “You must be the woman the gate guard was telling me about. I hear you’ve brought some new faces into our midst.”

“Yes, sir. Their homes were attacked by raiders. Most have nothing left. A few said they have family here.”

“Well, we will of course welcome them into our community. As long as they can work, they will have the protection of our Wall.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

The Mayor turned and began leading her into Diamond City. “Come, let me walk you into the city. I have much to attend to today but rest assured that your good deed will not go unrewarded.”


	2. How Much It Hurts to be Wrong

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After two days of being constantly hunted by Piper, Nora decides to leave Diamond City, but not before putting one over on the arrogant reporter.

Nora palmed what was left of the reward the Mayor had given her for her trouble. It was enough for one more meal. Maybe two. For saving a dozen lives and bringing them through the almost unimaginable hell that was the Commonwealth. Two cups of noodles and some irradiated water. Her luck was really turning around.

She had remained in the city a few days after being given use of a mattress at the local bar and inn. Not exactly luxury accommodations but she could scarcely complain. They were free and she could close her eyes in relative safety. More than that, it gave her a place to hide.

Piper had not forgotten their first encounter and seemed intent on picking a fight every time they crossed paths. Even her younger sister, a little girl named Nat that handed out the paper, did her best to put Nora in her place. That was one of the many reasons she was considering leaving the city for good. The woman was everywhere.

Nora’s perch in the local bar, if she could even call this pit a bar, gave her a good view of the main room. She could see and hear everything from her corner. She could eat her lousy food and slowly poison herself with drink and watch men get drunk enough to brave coming over and putting the moves on her. She could almost convince herself that turning them all down politely was worth having a solid roof over her head, even if breaking an arm or two would have been more fun.

Almost, but not quite. She was hoping to be gone before the next one tried his luck. It was bad enough that she had to eat this garbage but having to work “I’m not interested” around a mouthful of it was an experience beyond description.

It was with that thought that she set her spoon down and moved toward the door.

But not before another man left his stool and made for the door ahead of her. At first she thought nothing of it and was only too happy the man had not tried to talk to her. Then she noticed his hands. They were shaking.

Withdrawal.

The man pushed open the door and slipped out in to the street. Nora followed. The shaking man looked around furtively as he stumbled down the main road. No one seemed to pay him any mind. She had only been in Diamond City a few days but already she knew that no one cared about vagrants like him.

The man shuffled down the road, looked about, and vanished into an alleyway. Nora walked to the entrance, aware that she could not pass as unnoticed as the man she followed. She was new here. Her clothes, designed to keep her hidden in the wastes, now pointed her out as surely as neon signs. She suddenly felt like a woman dressed in midnight black for a midday robbery.

Still, with that Piper woman’s nasally words about Synths and chem dealers ringing in her ears, Nora followed the man. She was not really sure why. This was not her problem. Maybe she just did not want to leave her flock of sheep without clearing out some of the local wolves.

He led her on a merry chase between metal shacks and over drainage ditches. How they could walk for so long in such a small city was a mystery but somehow they managed it. Eventually they came to a hole in the ground guarded by a burly man armed with the ubiquitous weapon of Diamond City. Resting the bat on his shoulder, he challenged the shaking man as he approached. The man offered the parole without stopping. “Publick Occurrences.”

Nora chuckled. Piper was not making any friends out here.

She rounded the corner, determined to see this operation for herself but still not exactly sure why. It was not like she owed these people anything. She had done her part. Why not let Security handle it?

The guard stiffened at the sight of her. He said something into the door and stepped out to challenge her. “What’s someone like you doing here, girl?”

“Not here to make trouble,” she replied coolly. “I’m leaving town tomorrow and I’ve got caps I’d rather leave behind.”

Apparently she had not been very convincing. The unhappy face got unhappier. “Fine. Who sent you?”

She paused. “Publick Occurrences.”

The man could not restrain a small smile as he nodded and let her pass. Neither could she. It was a clever little passphrase. And, in this case, it was very nearly the truth.

Inside the little hole was a dimly lit room and a dozen junkies getting their fix. Stained and torn mattresses lined the walls as groaning men talked to themselves in frantic whispers and scratched constantly at their arms. It was like walking through a hospital ward with none of the cleanliness and all the sure knowledge that everyone here was already dead.

Before Nora could take stock of who was there, someone beckoned her across the room. The short walk through the squalid room took longer than it should have. Forcing herself not to look at those she stepped over made it difficult, and not putting a bullet in the man's forehead as she walked proved almost impossible. By the time she reached him, she was one wrong word from seeing red.

“What do you want?” his voice was raspy and she could barely make out a face in the dim light.

“Something to give me an edge out in the wastes,” she growled. The menacing, no-nonsense tone did not need to be faked.

He chuckled and nearly lost his life for it. “Aren’t you an interesting one. I’ve just the thing.”

A moment later, a single Jet was passed over the counter. “Three hundred.”

Nora nearly sputtered. Three hundred caps for this? Apparently it was not enough to kill all these people while he bled them dry. It had to happen overnight.

Still, it was either pay the man or start a fight. She could win. Probably. Most of the people here were either high or armed with sticks. The thought was so enticing that her sidearm practically drew itself.

Instead, she reached into her pocket. Three hundred caps was not worth risking her life, no matter how badly she wanted to put these people in the ground.

“Good doing business with you.”

She had barely grabbed the Jet when someone shoved her toward the door. “You’re done here.”

And just like that she was back out on the street. The doorman did not so much as look at her as she marched by, eager to put as much distance between herself and the den as possible. She carefully navigated the maze back to the main street, memorizing each turn and allowing a small smile to grow with each passing turn. Three hundred caps for the location of a drug den. There were worse ways to spend an afternoon.

Piper may have been right, something that pained Nora quite a bit, but she had done what that silly paper of hers never could.


	3. Pride

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora tries to rid Diamond City of crime on her own but Piper beats her to the punch

It was with great pride that Nora marched into the Mayor’s office, Jet in one pocket and smug victory everywhere else. Even when no one was there to greet her she remained buoyant. Even when she was told to go look for him by Publick Occurrences her mood just got better. Piper would be there. The woman had not exactly been kind to her since entering the city and now she would see what a real difference looked like.

Her first clue that something was wrong should have been the lack of fighting. The Mayor was standing side by side with Piper, staring at the street, waiting in silence. A dozen guards formed a loose cordon around the two but seemed to be paying Piper even less mind than usual.

Nora wormed her way through the gaggle until she stood beside the Mayor. No one seemed keen on stopping her. Whatever was going on, it was more important that letting one vagrant get close to the Mayor.

“Oh, look who it is,” Piper had noticed her first. “If you’re still wondering why anyone in the world would want a newspaper, stick around. You just might learn something.”

The venom in her tone would have killed a lesser woman on the spot. “I wasn’t here to talk to you. I need to speak with you, sir.”

“It will have to wait, miss,” the Mayor sounded even more tired than usual.

At that moment, a troupe of guards emerged from the alley. “We got them all, sir.”

Nora looked from the relieved Mayor to the smug Piper. The reporter cast one contemptuous look at Nora before turning back to the street. Seeing no one was going to fill her in, Nora’s eyes wandered around in search of answers, finally settling on a newspaper article hanging from a rusty nail.

She read the headline aloud. “Chem Ring Operating Beneath Diamond City.”

“Oh, you can read,” Piper sounded impressed. “I should be flattered you took the time to learn.”

“How did you know about this?” Nora asked, unable to contain her surprise.

“By asking the right questions and printing the right answers,” she taunted.

The sound of their bickering had woken the Mayor from his stupor. He turned his attention on Nora. “Did you know something about this?”

Nora produced the Jet from her pocket. “I followed a man to the den this afternoon. I brought this back as proof.”

One of the guards snatched it away from her. It was not like she wanted to keep it but she still felt cheated that they had not left her with a stack of caps as compensation. Maybe she could steal her money back from evidence. If they even took evidence. For all she knew, the guards just looted the place.

“The den?” Piper echoed mockingly. “You only found one?”

At that moment, a parade of bloody figures emerged from the alley. Most were dragging dead men behind them, one of which Nora recognized as her dealer. She was not sorry to see him gone. Two more were still standing.

Another security officer with blood on his uniform marched over. “Here are the ringleaders, sir.”

The Mayor nodded and walked into the street to address them. Nora tried to listen in but Piper had other ideas.

“So? What do you think of the paper now? Still not sure why anyone would want it around?”

Nora swallowed to keep herself from snapping the woman’s head off. “No, now I’m just wondering why anyone would want you around.”

She laughed and made a sweeping gesture toward the bodies. “Oh, no one does. But look at that. Safe streets. No more chems. Did you do that?”

Nora started to walk away but the Mayor stopped her. “Hold it. I need a word with you.”

Piper took this as her opportunity to twist the knife as the Mayor’s people closed in. “No, you didn’t. And neither did I. The people did. That’s the power of a free press.”

 

What followed was several days’ worth of questioning by the Mayor with free room and board provided by Security. Apparently walking up to the Mayor and handing him chems was frowned upon around here. Nora had never actually been in a jail cell before. In fact, when she thought about it, her trip to Diamond City had been full of first-time experiences. Not one of them had been good.

At length she was cleared, her effects returned, and a boot gently applied to her rear as she was encouraged to leave the city. No one needed to tell her twice. She had seen enough of this place to last the rest of her life.

She was in such a hurry to leave that she forgot to avoid the Publick Occurrences building. It was not until she was passing the latest stack of papers that she realized her mistake. With just one flight of stairs between her and the wasteland, she did not need to look up to know what horrible woman was clomping her way down to meet her.

“Look who it is.”

Piper, her stupid press cap sitting cock-eyed on her head, strode into her domain like an avenging angel come down to earth. “Finally taking the hint and running away? I don’t blame you. Diamond City is a rough place. Luckily, it has people like us to make it safe for folks like you.”

Nora bit down every retort and cutting remark she could imagine as Piper passed her on the street. It had occurred to her that, like it or not, the woman really had made this place much safer. The refugees, the people she cared about, would be safer. That paper of hers had actually made a difference.

She forced herself to stop walking. Her teeth were trying to grind themselves to dust and her jaw refused to unlock, but this needed to be said.

“Actually, I think I owe you an apology,” Nora managed. From the way her gut twisted as the words came out it was a miracle blood was not spraying between her teeth.

Piper turned on her heel and arched an eyebrow. Her expression was one of mock amusement. “Oh?”

“You were right. Your paper stopped those chem dealers. I wanted to thank you for that.”

She sniffed. “I don’t need your thanks. I did this for the people.”

Nora was clenching her fists now. She had known this was a bad idea. “And I brought some of those people in just a few days ago.”

Piper’s smirk widened. “Good for you. Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of them. In fact, feel free to send any more of them to me from now on. Wouldn’t want them getting hurt out there with you.”

Now she was livid. Piper was turned to go but Nora was not done with her. “Those people would have been dead if not for me. The world outside your Wall has gone to hell, but with all your fearmongering, I guess you didn’t notice.”

The other woman turned, her arrogance suddenly gone. “And how many of those people would have died here if not for my fearmongering?”

“Yeah, you got one right, but I didn’t see any Synths while I was in there. People around here are scared of their own shadows because of the news you’re putting out. How many lives are you saving there?”

“Of course they’re terrified,” Piper spat furiously. Nora smirked at having landed at least one good punch. “People are losing their families overnight. No one else is speaking for them.”

“Speaking for them? Is that what you’re doing?”

Piper’s tone was getting dangerous. “How long have you been in Diamond City? No one looks for missing people here. They just keep going, thanking the Wall it wasn’t them this time. So yeah, I give them a voice. I make sure no one forgets the kid at the dinner table who just suddenly wasn’t there.”

That hit closer to the mark than Nora cared to admit. Shaun was always in her thoughts. “I came here to apologize to you, dammit.”

“I don’t want an apology from you. If it were up to people like you, the press would have died out and everyone would be living in the dark. The only thing people like you understand is how to aim and shoot.”

Nora was seriously considering it but bit her tongue. Piper’s eyes widened anyway. It took a moment for Nora to realize why. One of her hands had come to rest on her sidearm. She had not meant it, but all it did was make Piper bolder.

The woman took a step toward her. “You think I’m scared of you? I’ve gone up against worse than you and it hasn’t stopped me yet.”

Nora rolled her eyes and clenched her fist tighter. She might not want to shoot the woman but she would not mind a few good swings at her.

Something flashed. The angry reporter was abruptly forgotten as Nora squinted toward the stands. Some piece of metal had caught the sun just right and was shining it right into her eyes. She could scarcely see through the glare but someone was moving around up there. And they looked wrong. Big.

Piper was still yelling something at her. Nora continued ignoring her, squinting to watch the figure finish hoisting that brilliant piece of metal up onto the railing. Her pulse started racing. It looked like a machine gun.

“Are you even listening to me?!” Piper closed in on her.

The glare vanished as the barrel of the gun nosed down toward the city. Nora’s eyes widened. That person was green.

_Super Mutant._

It was looking right at them. With as much urgency as vindictive joy, she grabbed Piper by her coat and hurled both of them behind Publick Occurrences. They hit the ground in a tangle. Piper grabbed at Nora’s own coat and looked ready to throttle her. Someone in the street screamed.

The minigun opened fire.


	4. Little Green Men

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Super Mutants attack Diamond City, forcing Piper and Nora to fight together if not quite side by side

Bullets pinged off houses and split boards open with hollow cracks. Dirt flew up in geysers where the rounds hit. Above even the whine of the bullets was roar of the minigun firing into the city. It was like being in a blender full of tin cans and ball bearings.

Nora had already loaded her rifle and moved to the edge of the street by the time Piper wriggled out from under her.

“Super Mutants! Stay down!” she shouted. 

She did not really expect Piper to listen and was not disappointed when the woman produced a worn sidearm from beneath her trench coat. In one easy motion, she clicked the safety, racked the slide, and started running toward the opposite street.

But not before she got in a shouted “Like hell!” above the gunfire.

Piper vanished around the corner just as the bullets swept into the street. Nora winced as sparks exploded from the houses and mud flew upward in sheets. The desperate popping of a 10mm was enough to convince her the reporter was still alive and kicking.

Never one to miss an opportunity, Nora peeped around the corner, rested her sights on the mounted minigun, and squeezed the trigger.

The blender abruptly shut off. The little green monster running the gun jerked back, then toppled forward, taking the gun over the side of the wall as both fell into the city. Her ears still ringing from the unholy racket, Nora turned back down the alley and yelled loud enough for Piper to hear.

“I told you to stay down! I just finished saving your life, don’t throw it away while I’m still right here!”

With the gun gone and that taken care of, Nora could hear the full extent of the battle beginning to play out. Wounded and terrified men were screaming from every alleyway. Small arms fire still popped away from all over the stands and even in the city streets. How many were there? How had they gotten in?

Guards in baseball gear began pouring from cover, spraying fire all over the stands. Nora was already running down the street when some of the guards mistook her for a giant, green monster.

Skittering around a corner, bullets singing all around her, Nora decided to try out her own little Piper-ism. “Happy to be of service!”

The gunfire stopped and she heard someone chewing the shooters out, both for firing at a friendly target and, even worse, for not being able to hit it.

It was not until Nora reached the first intersection that she realized she had no idea where she was going. Running toward the sound of the guns had been her first thought, but now they were all around her. She looked down each street around her. There was gunfire everywhere but there was no sign of fighting.

As if summoned by her hesitation, a group of three mutants came tearing around a corner. One wielded an enormous sledgehammer while the other two swept nearby houses with pipe guns. Nora was firing even before she reached the shelter of a nearby building. They were easy targets in the open.

Determined to get herself killed, Nora pushed up to the intersection she had just cleared. No sooner had she reached the dead mutants than a fourth came barreling around the corner, a screaming child held over its shoulder, and slammed right into the crouching woman.

Its massive leg connected squarely with her shoulder and sent her sprawling into a building even as she tried to dive away. The mutant howled and turned. “Stupid human! You come too!”

Sure her throbbing shoulder would be the least of her problems if the monster got hold of her, she rolled over, swinging her rifle over her chest and spraying rounds into the green tree trunks that were the creature’s legs. The mutant toppled nearly on top of her with another ear-splitting howl and sent the girl sprawling into the mud. Still screaming to wake the dead, the girl had at least fared better than her kidnapper. Both its knees were a mess and its cudgel had gone flying during the fall.

Nora finished the Super Mutant and sprang to her feet. “Can you walk?” she asked the girl, eyes swiveling from house to house, rooftop to rooftop.

The girl just screamed. More shouting came from the street beside them and Nora guessed her they were not friendly voices. She spun on her heel, shot twice into the locked door, kicked it open, and threw the girl inside. For the second time she shouted “Stay down!” and hoped this girl had more sense than the last one.

Heavy footfalls brought her back around to see another two mutants come trundling into the street. What was left of a person now lay slung over one’s shoulders. The other looked jealous of the trophy and all-too-eager to get one of his own.

Nora aimed and squeezed. She hardly had time to breathe before a building down the street erupted in flames. More screaming from burning house, more mutants rushing around the corner, more pops from her rifle.

It went on for hours. Or it felt like hours. Bullets scythed into her legs and a sledgehammer brought down the corner of the building she was using for cover. A grenade landed by her feet and only by pure luck did she scoop it away to bring down a shack on the other side of the street. Every time she spun around to face another mutant, every time she squeezed the trigger only to pivot and fire again, the fear crept in a little deeper.

She was the only one alive. The entire city could have been burned and she would still be here. The girl in the building was still alive. How long before she should just grab her and run? She should have stayed with the others. At least then someone would have been watching her back, making sure she survived.

But she did survive.

Diamond City Security finally pushed forward enough to join her, finding her leaning on a toppled Nuka Cola machine and hurling the last of her ammunition at the fleeing invaders. Nora pointed them toward the child she had been protecting and promptly collapsed in the mud to begin bandaging her leg. After much coaxing, the poor girl emerged from the broken building, bruised and crying but otherwise unhurt. No one helped Nora as she wandered about, favoring one leg and wondering how much good she had even done.

The truth was painfully obvious. The streets were a mess. Bodies lay everywhere. Houses had walls smashed in or had been set ablaze by errant grenades. It was impossible even to cross the street without stepping in a puddle of red.

Following the fading sounds of combat, Nora hobbled toward the scoreboard and found what everyone was looking at. A hole big enough to drive a car through had been blown in the inner wall. Security forces had set up barricades and a machine gun just inside to cover where another, larger hole had been made in the outer wall. Daylight streamed in and Nora could see figures moving from house to house, each one an unpleasant green. She left them to their work, as much from a sense of safety as her nagging lack of bullets.

The city was a very different place. Guards wandered the streets like zombies. Civilians impressed as stretcher bearers dragged wounded men and women to the hospital. Others loomed over the dead, hoping every time they turned over a corpse that they would not recognize the face. Too many did.

Nora picked her way through the streets to the last place she had seen Piper. A few streets over was the school. Had she gone to protect her sister?

There were half a dozen mutant corpses in the street, all clustered around the shattered schoolhouse door. Despite nursing a thorough dislike for the woman, Nora felt her heart climbing into her throat. She had not deserved to die like this. She had run toward the sound of the battle and tried to save those who could not save themselves. If anyone should have made it through this, it was the woman with the stupid hat.

Nora shoved a few corpses out of the way with the heel of her boot and sidled up to the door. “Anyone in –“

Before she could finish, Nora was waiting to die exactly as she had imagined over the last few days: at the barrel of a gun, Piper’s cold eyes gleaming just behind it.

To Nora’s surprise, and surely Piper’s disappointment, she lowered her weapon. “Oh. You.”

Nora put on her most disarming smile. “Sorry to disappoint.”

“Come to finish our little chat?”

She shook her head. “I think it can wait. I’ve had enough fighting for one day.”

Piper looked at the dead mutants. She looked exhausted. “Yeah.”

There was a moment of silence as Nora looked over the bodies. “Are all these yours?”

“It was them or me,” Piper said with a shrug.

“Well, nice shooting.”

“You too.”

Another awkward silence followed. Nora shifted uncomfortably and immediately regretted it. She settled against the side of the schoolhouse with a grimace, one hand on her thigh.

“You’re bleeding.”

She managed a nod as Piper opened the door to allow her entry. She did not offer to help her inside. One step at a time. At least she was not trying to rub salt in the wound.

Nora settled down on a nearby stool and propped her rifle against the wall. The muffled shuffling and sobbing of children overhead was a strangely comforting sound. Even as they wept, at least they were safe.

“Your sister here?”

Piper nodded as she sat down beside her. “The walls kept out most of the gunfire,” she said. Her voice suddenly went very quiet. “It’s their parents I’m worried about.”

Nora said nothing, just nodded and tried not to think about it.

“How did they get in?” Piper asked after a long pause.

“There’s a hole in the wall just behind the scoreboard. That’s how they were able to get a machine gun on top of the wall so easily.”

Piper leapt to her feet. “Where?”

“It has people on it,” Nora tried to reassure her. “When I left, they were barricading it and setting up sentries. If they try it again, we’ll know.”

Piper did not relax and instead began to pace. Nora managed a smile. “That’s why I came looking for you.”

That caught her off guard. “What?”

“This is what you do, isn’t it? Find out who poked a hole in the wall? It was probably those chem runners.”

Piper muttered something that could have been taken as consent. Her eyes were still on the floor. “Someone knew about this.”

Nora smiled again. The woman was a bloodhound.

Seeing the safety of Diamond City was in good hands, Nora let herself relax. She started playing with the wound in her leg. It was nothing serious, just a pain. She would get it seen to and be back in the fight by dinner if need be. A bit closer to the bone and it would have taken her out of the fight.

Piper was staring at her. Given their history, Nora found herself wanting to reach for her gun. “What?”

“I, uh… Thanks. For saving my life.”

“That’s what I’m here for, keeping Diamond City safe for folks like you.”

Piper turned red. “Yeah, I guess I owe you an apology, don’t I?”

“I had it coming.”

The until-recently insufferable news reporter rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly before turning back to Nora. “You really went out there to fight?”

“Yeah. Got what was coming to me then, too.”

Another pause. “And you went after those chem dealers?”

“Look, it’s been a bad week. Normally I’m not this stupid.”

“Why?”

Nora thought about that for a moment. “I don’t know. Just seemed like the right thing to do at the time.”

“No, I mean why aren’t you normally this stupid?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You saved a lot of lives today,” Piper’s voice had gone oddly soft. It was a little unnerving. “I know I wouldn’t be here without you. How long would it have taken for someone to stop that gun? How many more would have died if you hadn’t been there to help them?”

“Yeah, well, I’m awfully good at that ‘aim and shoot’ thing.”

Piper smiled at her. She was actually kind of cute when she did that. It was a nice change from being bludgeoned to death in the name of the press.

“Come here,” Piper knelt down in front of Nora. “Let me get a look at that.”

Nora gingerly offered her leg for inspection. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch.”

Piper made agreeing noises as she examined Nora’s hasty field dressing. The few pieces of cloth had now become black rags and her pant leg was stained a lovely crimson. “Maybe,” she muttered. “But that’s a lot of blood for a scratch.”

Any protest Nora could give seemed hollow in light of the evidence so she sat back and tried to relax. “I’m touched that you’re worried.”

Piper chuckled as she finished her work. “Well, I’d never forgive myself if you died,” she paused, looked up, and grinned. “And I wasn’t the one to kill you.”

Nora rolled her eyes but could not really argue with her. “You’ve got a lot of competition. Some days there’s a line.”

Piper was the picture of innocence. “I’m sure there is. I don’t suppose you have any bandages on you?”

Nora shrugged. “You’re looking at them.”

The woman sighed and got to her feet. “Alright. We’ll get you to the doctor.”

Piper moved to help Nora to her feet but paused just as she reached her. With a very awkward but sincere smile, she stuck out her hand. “I’m Piper.”

Nora could not resist a laugh. “Starting over?”

“I think you’ve earned another shot at my good graces.”

After the way she had handled herself against those mutants, Nora decided she did not want to risk being on this woman’s bad side. Again. She took her hand. “Nora. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Piper helped her up, even going as far as offering her shoulder for support. “Welcome to Diamond City. Care for a tour?”

 

Leaning on Piper’s shoulder, Nora hobbled her way over to where triage had been set up. The stretchers had been stacked first by the walls of the doctor’s office and now snaked all the way down to the chem clinic. Both, she imagined, provided at least some relief.

Despite her protests that she only needed a few bandages, Piper returned with a batch of painkillers and insisted she take them, if only to make her more likeable. The effects were almost instant and Nora became a smiling, sleepy mess. This apparently caused Piper no end of amusement, though she could not be sure at the time and her memory afterward was more than a little fuzzy.

Sometime that night, when the worst of the effects had worn off, the Mayor stopped by to personally thank her for her heroics during the assault. Big words were exchanged and Nora’s pockets got a little heavier. Piper picked a fight with him toward the end because, in her own words, it was just what she did, and the evening ended with Nora being put up in a spare home at the end of the street.

But not before she tendered an awkward, if heartfelt, apology to a woman she had nearly shot just this morning. Piper accepted it with her usual quick-witted grace and left Nora feeling both relieved and a little clumsy. They had not started on the best of terms and Nora had done nothing to help that. Piper, however, did not seem to care. She made her apologies, cracked a few jokes, and went right along with the evening. It was a humbling thing to see.

Even before she had passed her first night in the home, she knew it would be her last in Diamond City. Nora had never been good at staying in one place for long. She enjoyed the accolades and the knowledge that she had done something right the day before, but her feet itched. There were people out there without walls that needed more help.

Piper had things handled here anyway. Already the town was in an uproar at the latest issue of the paper. As if a giant hole in the wall was not enough to incite a panic. Maybe people really did need the written word. It gave them direction.

Not that Nora would say as much. The reporter’s head was big enough already.

Morning found Nora already leaving to say her goodbyes. Or goodbye, such as it was, and to the last person she expected to be saying it to. She caught Piper alone by her shop and for once was greeted with something other than outright hostility.

“Morning, wobbles. How’s the leg?”

Nora flexed it experimentally. “Good enough to travel. You must have cleaned a lot of paper cuts in your time.”

“Paper cuts, gunshot wounds, depends on how good the stories for the day are.”

“What a charmed life you lead.”

Piper grinned. “You’re one to talk.”

It was a fair point, though her line of work came with a certain expectation of danger. “At least my bad guys wear uniforms.”

“Or have big green heads.”

Piper walked over to her printing press and pulled a stack of papers off the tray. Nora plucked one from her as she walked by. “How’s your sister?”

“She came through alright. You saw the school. From in there, it probably just sounded like a bad storm.”

That was a bad lie and they both knew it. “The way you stood between her and those mutants probably has her seeing stars whenever you’re around.” 

Piper set the stack down at the roadside where, until a few minutes ago, an even larger stack had been whisked away by eager townsfolk. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you.”

Nora raised an eyebrow. “Didn’t like you getting shot at?”

“No she did not.”

“She’s right, you know. I’ve seen what those Super Mutants can do to people. Especially the ones that hurt them.”

Piper folder her arms angrily. “What should I have done, just let them barge in and take my sister?”

“I’m not saying that, I’m just saying be careful.”

She sniffed. “If I was careful, I wouldn’t be running this paper. Careful doesn’t make things better. You just gotta do what’s right,” she paused and smirked. “Or, in your case, stupid.”

“Can’t argue with my results.”

Piper found a place outside her building and leaned against the wall. “I’ll give you that. So, what brings you to my home?”

Nora watched as a few townsfolk picked through the papers. “I was thinking of leaving. It’s about time I got back out there.”

Piper gave her a curious look. “What is it you do out there, anyway? Just wander around with a sign that says ‘Follow me to safety’?”

She chuckled. “No, but I like the idea. Mostly I listen to the radio, ask around in major settlements. Caravans sometimes take on settlers when they move from place to place. Safety in numbers, right? And sometimes I just bump into people but that’s pretty rare.”

“So what was that last group you brought in?”

She winced. “They were… different. Their settlement got hit by raiders. Lost almost everyone. I happened to be passing by when I saw the smoke.”

Nora shook her head, like the smoke and screaming could all just tumble out her ears. “It was bad.”

Piper was quiet now. “You saved some of them. That’s more than most could say.”

She was not so sure about that. She was even less sure why she was talking about it in the first place. They were not exactly the best of friends. “Yeah. Thanks.”

A few more papers vanished from the stack. The two of them watched in silence. It was probably the longest Piper had ever been quiet in her life. After five minutes of it, the devoted reporter could stand it no more and heaved herself off the wall. “Well, if you’re not sticking around, I’ll be sure to save you a copy of the next Publick Occurrences. I think you’ll be featured quite prominently.”

Nora snorted. “I can make fun of myself just fine. I don’t need any handouts.”

“Sometimes you need a professional to show you how it’s done.”

With that charming sendoff, Nora grabbed her rifle and slung it over her shoulder. “I’ll be sure to come back soon. Wouldn’t want your talent to go unappreciated.”

Piper smirked. Posing like that, with her cap and printing press, it looked like she could take on the whole world with nothing but a pen. “Appreciated or not, the press never stops.”

Nora stepped into the street and started making for the wasteland. She had barely gotten to the steps when Piper called out behind her. “Hey. Don’t be a stranger, alright? I don’t want you dying out there without letting me know first.”

That got her laughing. She waved her goodbye and started off into the wastes without looking back. It was just what she did.


	5. Story Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora tells Piper about her latest adventures in the Wasteland and gets an unexpected reaction

It was another few weeks before Nora returned to the Great Green Jewel, another sorry bunch of wretches clinging to her heels. The guards seemed to remember her and waved her in. She said her goodbyes to the settlers and made her way into the stadium.

Piper was hard at work saving the world. New flyers had been plastered all over the town warning about the hole in the wall. Shading her eyes against the sun, Nora could see little figures picking their way along a walkway that led around the stadium’s lip. That was new.

“And so our hero returns.”

Piper emerged from behind her printing press and sauntered to the edge of the street. Nora could not resist the smile. “Filthy, hungry, and tired enough to fall down. Not exactly the entrance I was hoping to make.”

She scarcely had the energy to set her rifle down before slumping against the wall outside Publick Occurrences. Piper looked far too happy. “Now there’s a story I want to hear.”

Nora grunted something inhuman. “I’ll tell you another time. Right now, I just want to sleep.”

“The press never sleeps,” Piper boasted before sitting down beside her.

“How nice for the press.”

“Come on, now, you’ve been gone for weeks. We’ll get you a room and you can tell me all about how miserable you are. I could use the cheering up.”

Nora groaned. The last place she wanted to be was the local bar. “If it keeps us out of that pit longer, I guess I could give you the story.”

“See how easy that was? Come on, I’ll buy you lunch. Let me finish running these around town and I’ll catch up,” Piper stood and swaggered over to her pile of papers.

Nora willed herself to her feet, the effort of which threatened to cripple her. “Fine. Are you taking those straight to the fire or are the bathrooms just out of paper?”

She heaved the stack off the curb and glared. “That’s a funny way of saying ‘Thanks for the free lunch, Piper.’”

“It’s not free, you’re buying my story with trash noodles.”

Piper shrugged and started down the street, talking over her shoulder as she left. “And no, since you asked, these don’t go straight to the fire. They roll around in the street first.”

“Your self-awareness does you credit.”

The woman scoffed, flipped her hair, and vanished around a bend in the road. Somehow she had made it all seem very obscene. She had a gift, that one.

With a heavy heart and an unwilling soul, Nora set off for the center of town. As much as she had complained, a meal would be nice. And the noodles would keep Piper from sassing her for a few minutes while she gobbled them down.

Trash noodles. Why had she called them that? Now it was all she could think about.

As it turned out, she could have called them far worse. The moment she sat down at the bar and heard the noodle bowl hit the surface with a pleasant clink, she ate like a wild dog. She barely remembered where she was until her burning lungs forced her to stop eating and breathe. By then half the bowl was empty and her stomach was begging for a chance to finish it off.

She let it, telling herself that Piper could just pay her back. It was not like she was broke. Besides, this way she could tell her story uninterrupted while her audience stuffed its face.

Nora had no sooner finished this thought then her bowl was whisked away and another was set steaming in its place. Her stomach growled and again she gave it what it wanted. It had been through a lot these last few days.

Somewhere near the middle of the third bowl Piper arrived to make some caustic comment about her waiting five minutes before stuffing herself. Nora gulped down her latest mouthful of noodles and composed herself by wiping a long, elegant stream of soup from her chin.

“What was that?”

Piper sat down and eyed the mess Nora had made. “I said if you finish that bowl you’re paying for this yourself. I came here for a story, not to watch you drool all over the table.”

Not so elegant, then. At least she had tried. “You’ll get your story. That is, if you’re done inciting riots in the streets.”

“No riots today,” Piper said cheerfully as a noodle bowl appeared in front of her. “Just mild panic. I like to change it up every now and again.”

Nora settled back in her stool and suddenly realized how much her back ached. What she would not have given for an arm chair and a fireplace.

Piper politely spooned what might have been food into her mouth and made hand signals at the robotic bartender. “So, what wrung you out so badly that you’re spending your day with me?”

“Lots of things but I’ll hit the highlights for you. I’m sure you’re a busy woman,” Nora began, wondering where to start. Piper’s hand signals had just produced a shot glass full of vodka. Nora mimed them and hoped she had not just asked for rat poison by mistake.

“So when last I parted your sweet company, I went east. Two days out I caught a distress call. Some group of settlers wandered into the Glowing Sea and thought it was a good place to set up shop. Radscorpions thought otherwise and the poor townsfolk wanted someone to clear them out. I went down there to check it out.”

“After another day or two of hard walking and fighting off mutant gangs I get to the site. Everyone’s gone, of course, and I spent the next – I don’t know, two days, maybe? – fighting off would-be looters and raider ambushes.”

Piper, having resumed her meal, raised an eyebrow and tried to swallow her food. Nora cut in before she could poke fun at her. “No, I’m not stupid, I knew they were coming. That’s why I’m not dead.” Head tilt. “Yes, two days. Big gang, maybe two. Probably all heard the same call as me and wanted the same free lunch. I don’t know, I didn’t ask. Look, that’s not the interesting part.” Head tilt and eyebrows. “Just you wait.”

“Once it was over, I spent another evening sleeping off the stims I used to stay alive and scavenging what I could from the dead. The next day I set out to come back here and resupply. This was a week ago, now. About an hour after I leave, a radiation storm starts kicking up. It was bad. I thought I could make it out but it kicked up so quickly I was caught in the open. What could I do? I sat down, popped a few pills, and waited.”

Nora leaned over the bar. “So I’m sitting on the side of this hill under a dead tree just listening to the thunder and watching the lightning. I was probably there for an hour or so. By this point I hadn’t slept much and even the constant stab of the radiation wasn’t enough to keep me awake. I start drifting off.”

Her voice dropped. “Then I notice the thunder is getting closer. It’s coming up the hill behind me. It’s getting louder and louder until it’s in my bones and I can feel the whole world shaking.”

“Deathclaw,” Nora said the word with all the drama she could muster. It had the desired effect. Piper was rapt.

“I could hear it breathing, testing the wind as it walked by. It must not have been able to see me under the tree because it just stood there. Sniffing the air. Waiting.”

“So I’m dead, right? I can’t outrun a Deathclaw in good weather and this one is right on top of me in the middle of a storm. I start inching toward my rifle. Maybe I can take out a leg or something, give myself a chance to get away.”

“Then I see my rifle start sliding down the hill. I see the sand start moving around my boots. At first I thought the Deathclaw was coming down on top of me. I start to panic, almost bolted right there. Then it hits me. I’m sitting on a Radscorpion.”

Piper had gone motionless now. “I’m thinking I’m dead, I’m dead, I’m dead. But nothing happens. I knew if I stayed there it was going to be true sooner or later, so I decided to move. Right as I’m getting ready to make a run for it, I see the scorpion’s tail start to poke up through the sand.”

“I took my chance. I jumped ten feet in the air and started running like hell. The hill explodes behind me and I hear the tree go flying. The Deathclaw starts howling and the scorpion starts hissing. The Deathclaw must have attacked the Radscorpion because the sounds it made... never in my life have I heard a living creature make noises like that. I just ran and ran until I thought my legs would give out.”

Piper started to shake her head but Nora was not done. “I’ve never run that fast in my life. I don’t know how long it lasted, only that when the screaming stopped, it wasn’t because I had gotten far enough away. I kept looking over my shoulder, waiting for that claw to grab me. Just when I start to lose my breath, I see daylight. I’m coming to the edge of the storm.”

Nora paused for effect. “I wasn’t fast enough. You can tell when they see you,” she spoke slowly, letting every word pull Piper in. “You feel it in your gut, like they can reach inside you and nail you to the ground with a thought. It’s like you’re just a bug trapped under some giant’s shot glass. The world outside sort of fades away. It’s just you and the Deathclaw.”

“I stopped cold. I felt it stop, too. It was hunting me and now it knew I was done. I wasn’t about to go down without a fight. I spun around, aimed right at the monster’s heart, and squeezed.”

“Jammed.”

Nora let the word sink in. “Not once has this rifle jammed on me and just when I need it most, it does,” she prodded the dust-covered weapon with her foot. “I couldn’t believe it. I stared at it, just stared, while the claw stared at me. I swear it was laughing. I finally looked up. It was covered in blood and bits of scorpion. I remember seeing the stinger hanging out of its leg and wondering what kind of hurry it had been in to eat me.”

“It howls again, screams like it knows my name and I’m nothing more than a meal to it. It charges me. Every step feels like someone is beating me in the chest with a hammer. I felt like my lungs were going to burst.”

“I’m desperate. I start thinking about running, about diving away at the last moment, about playing dead. But I can’t. It’s right on top of me.”

“So I take one step toward it, draw my gun, and pull the trigger.”

Piper’s eyes were like dinner plates. Nora held up one dramatic, elegant finger. “One shot.”

Silence. Piper stared in disbelief. Nora slowly raised the glass to her lips, looked Piper in the eyes, and smiled.

“Bullshit.”

Nora sighed and took a drink. “I thought you wanted to hear the story.”

“Yes, the real story, not one you made up to try and impress me!”

She put the shot glass down and shook her head. “Every word of that story is true.”

Piper leaned onto the bar. “You killed a Deathclaw.” Nora nodded. “With that.” Piper pointed at the pistol strapped to Nora’s hip. She nodded again. “With one shot. From that.”

Nora beamed. “It was a very good shot.”

“It was a Mole Rat, wasn’t it?”

“Hell of a big Mole Rat.”

Piper was shaking her head furiously now. “I bet there wasn’t even a storm! Just the Mole Rat and some dust!”

“Those things can kick up a lot of dust, you know.”

Furious beyond words and unable to cope with the new sensation, Piper started waving frantically at Nora who, with feline grace, leaned back and smiled even wider. “I can’t – I just can’t,” Piper stammered. She said it over and over until she stood up and walked away, still muttering.

Now Nora sat up straight. “Hey, aren’t you going to pay for this?”

No answer.

With a great sigh, Nora fished around in her pockets for enough caps to pay for both her meal and Piper’s. The woman really was a terrible listener, it seemed. Having been swindled out of a meal and deprived of her only company for the day, she made ready to leave.

“Hey lady.”

The voice startled her and Nora turned to see a little girl standing by her stool. Her eyes were big, like Piper’s were when she was still enthralled in the tale.

“Is that really true? You killed a Deathclaw?”

Nora looked around slyly. Seeing no one, she reached her hand slowly into the chest pocket of her coat and pulled something out.

A long, horrible-looking claw the length of her forearm came sliding out of its sheathe.

Nora winked. “Our little secret, okay?”

If that didn’t spread the story, nothing would. The girl nodded frantically and sped off to break her promise as fast as the words could pour out of her. Nora allowed herself a long, happy sigh before retrieving her rifle and setting off in search of a quiet place to get to work. She had told the truth. Her rifle had never jammed on her in her life. She wanted to make sure it never happened again.

 

It was evening before Piper reappeared. Having cleaned and reassembled her rifle before spending nearly an hour going over modifications with the local gunsmith, she had decided to brave the night outside the walls. Her ordeal of the past few weeks had her itchy. Knowing there were raiders, mutants, and worse just outside the walls made her scratch at the trigger guard. She might not have liked these people but that did not mean she wanted to see them eaten for dinner.

Piper was sitting outside Publick Occurrences, her back against the wall just the way it had been when she had first sat down with Nora. The weary traveler smiled even if Piper did not and took a seat beside her.

“Thinking about how to put my tale into print?”

No response. Nora shrugged. “Alright, take your time. I haven’t decided how I want to work out the royalties anyway. I know you don’t make much money off the paper, so I’m thinking you could do a feature on me. Maybe release a novel commemorating my epic struggle? Woman versus giant lizard is guaranteed to sell.”

Piper’s head lolled to the side and her eyes fixed on Nora’s. Her voice was soft and serious. “Did you really do all that?”

Nora nodded slowly. “I did.”

“The storm, the scorpion, the one bullet? All that was true?”

Her nodding slowed. “All true.”

More thoughtful silence. Her head turned back to the street, her eyes staring at something far away. Nora looked around at the shop. Her printing press had stopped running. A stack of papers lay on the tray but had not been bundled up and moved to the street. They had been there long enough for some braver folks to grab a leaflet from the top in plain view of the press’s loving owner.

Nora shivered. “Scariest fight of my life.”

She looked up to see Piper’s eyes fixed on hers again. “I mean it. I couldn’t stop shaking. I dropped my rifle twice just walking away.”

“That the truth?” Piper asked.

“Seeing death up close like that, knowing that no matter what you do, you’re going to die… It’s not something that’s easy to come down from.”

Another long silence passed as Nora tried to fight off the feeling of helplessness that came with the memories. Piper let her be, content with watching her in silence. It was a little comforting, having Piper there, but she wished she would stop staring.

Only when Nora turned to look at her did she understand. A little spark of life was returning to Piper’s usually vibrant eyes. “You’d go right back out there, wouldn’t you? Straight into the Glowing Sea if you heard someone asking for help.”

She shrugged. What else was she supposed to do? “Of course.”

An odd look came over Piper’s face. Was she worried about her? Nora suddenly felt absurdly guilty about her chosen profession. It was a ridiculous thing to feel. Piper, of all people, was in no position to pass judgment on her. The woman took on the wasteland’s worst with a pen. At least Nora had a gun.

Piper shook her head. “You’re a strange woman, Nora.”

She laughed at that. “You’re one to talk.”

That spark of life flared up into a smile. “At least I’m smart enough to stay behind a wall.”

“A wise woman once told me I should be stupid more often. I’ve taken it to heart ever since.”

Piper laughed. “Words to live by.”

Nora squinted into the fading sunlight. There was still enough light for her to creep into one of the outlying buildings and set up shop for the night. She wanted to be on the north side of the city, near where the breach had been. Every day she worried that it would happen again and this time she would not be around to stop it.

“It’s getting late,” Nora grabbed her rifle and slung it over her shoulder. “I should get going. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Piper stayed where she was. “Don’t drink too hard. Or do, just come get me first.”

Nora waved over her shoulder and trudged toward the gate. No worries on that count tonight. There would be little occasion for drinking.

“Wait,” Piper’s voice had gone shrill and Nora heard her scrambling to her feet. “You’re not going back out now, are you?”

Nora sighed and turned halfway around. “I told you, that fight stayed with me. I can’t sit still. All I can think about is a Deathclaw creeping up on this place at night.”

“And you’re going to stop it? With just one bullet each, I guess you can stop a whole army of them.”

The sarcasm went over poorly. Nora glared. “You have your ways of keeping people safe, I have mine. Let me do what I’m good at.”

Piper raised her hands. “Look, I love that you’re doing this, I do, but please. Not tonight.”

Her tone had changed. She was pleading. Desperate. Nora turned fully around to face her. “What’s wrong?”

“Look, you might not have noticed, but I don’t exactly make a lot of friends in this line of work,” she said with a wry smile. Her voice softened even more. “I like you. I don’t want to lose you because you walked off into the dark with no sleep and no one to watch your back.”

Nora stood rooted to the ground. She had never expected this from Piper of all people. “Piper -“

“You can stay at my place.”

“What?”

Piper took a few cautious steps closer, looking at Nora like a rabbit about to bolt. “You can stay at my place. We’ve got a couch you can use and if you still want to leave in the morning, I won’t stop you. Just not tonight. Please. I know you’re tired.”

She was right. Nora was exhausted. The thought of the Deathclaw kept her in a mild panic but she knew that was all the more reason to stay here. Her nerves were shot. What would happen if she got into a real fight?

“Alright,” Nora let her arm fall to her side. She had not realized she had been clutching her rifle the entire time. “Thanks.”

Piper visibly relaxed. “Don’t mention it.”

The pair returned to the patio of Publick Occurrences. Piper took the time to retrieve her stack of papers while Nora watched. She had lost someone. Everyone had. But Nora? Nora was not someone to lose. She was just Nora, just some wandering nobody who would end up dead in a back alley.

Piper set the stack down by the road and walked back to settle in beside Nora. She would have done anything to see inside her head right now. Who was she? More than that, what was Nora to her?

Nora started to grin. “So. You like me.”

Piper sighed. “I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I?”

Her grin widened. “Of course not.”

She watched as Piper adjusted her hat and ran a hand through her hair. “Just forget I said anything. Come on, I’ll show you around. You can meet my little sister.”

Nora was not at all surprised to learn that Piper lived where she worked. Even so, she thought it was cozy. It had a homeliness that had been absent so long from the world, like the house knew it sheltered the city’s most heroic figure.

A little girl in blue came streaking through the living room. “Piper!”

Piper ran to her, catching her in a hug and laughing. “Hey, you!”

Nora was blissfully forgotten. She could have watched for hours. She had never seen either of them this happy. “Michael said he went outside the walls yesterday!” Nat babbled in excitement.

Piper made a gasp. “He did? How’d he do it?”

“He says he snuck past the guards and ran right out the gate! There were raiders and mutants, just like you said!”

Piper shook her head and stood from where she had been embracing the girl. “That’s why I stay inside the walls now and it’s why you should, too. Only brave and stupid people go out there.”

She looked at Nora who made a face. It was so nice to be in her thoughts. Piper was still smiling to light up the whole city. Nat had noticed her now. “Come meet my friend. Her name is Nora and she spends a lot of time outside the walls.”

Nat looked carefully at Nora but did not move. “I remember you. You’re the lady who wanted to stop the press.”

Piper had the grace to look embarrassed. “She’s not so bad once you get to know her.”

That ringing endorsement did little for Nat. Her eyes only widened when they found her rifle. Nora winced. She should have left it at the door. “Is that real?”

“It is,” Nora shrugged it off and looked for a place to set it.

“Can I touch it?”

Nora looked at Piper who shrugged. Nora popped out the magazine and made doubly sure the chamber was empty and safety was on before holding it out in both hands.

Nat touched it gently, her eyes going bigger. “Have you killed a lot of raiders with it?”

Piper’s face was unreadable. Nora decided it was safer to hedge than tell the truth. “It’s saved my life a few times, but I think your sister has been in more fights than I have.”

Piper gave her a wry grin but did not correct her, leading Nora to believe it was probably true. The tour began in the living room. Nat slept in a sheltered nook in the corner of the house while Piper had somehow maneuvered a bed up a narrow flight of stairs and onto the second floor. A powered computer sat next to it, along with a disturbing amount of first aid equipment and a suitcase tucked under the bed.

She missed whatever Piper was saying as she took it in. How many times, Nora wondered, had this woman sat here, stitching up her wounds and wondering if this was the night she was finally driven from her home? How many times had she worked through how to tell Nat they were leaving? And she never quit.

The guest suite, as Piper called it, was pleasant enough. The couch was soft and conveniently located by the front door, kitchen, and garbage bin. Nora settled in and asked for room service. Piper found it less amusing than she did.

She placed her rifle, still unloaded, by the side of the couch before shrugging out of the heaviest of her gear. Coat, long scarf, ammo belt, backpack, and an almost unfathomable amount of dust soon lay scattered around her bed for the night.

“Got anything else you want to bring in?” Piper asked as she picked her way over the pile. “Power armor, maybe?”

Nora smirked, then leaned forward. “No, I think I’m set. I did want to decorate a little though.”

She reached into her chest pocket and pulled out the long claw that she had shown off earlier. Piper’s eyes went wide as she set it down beside the couch.

“What is that?” Nat came scuttling over with an awed expression.

Nora looked right at Piper. “Mole Rat claw.”

Piper rolled her eyes. Nat moved closer. “I know what that is. That’s from a Deathclaw. You’re the lady that killed a Deathclaw with one bullet, aren’t you?”

Pure exasperation boiled out of Piper. “What’d you do, print up flyers?”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

It was Nat who explained. “I heard it at school. Nina heard someone telling the story in the market. She says she saw the claw and that it was as big as her arm.”

Nora sat back. “Want to hear the story?”

She nodded eagerly. Nora began her shorter, somewhat more abridged version of the tale. Piper moved about her business or stopped to listen to the story from time to time but could not keep her eyes off the claw. Only now, Nora guessed, did the Deathclaw stop being a giant Mole Rat in her mind. Only now had Nora come so very close to death.

The story haunted Nora just as much. Once it was over, her fears of Diamond City falling prey to a herd of them came back worse than ever. Nat ran around fighting off her own imaginary herd as Piper busied herself around the house.

When it finally came time to turn in, Nora bid her hostess good night and tried her best to sleep. In truth, she lay awake most of the night and tried not to imagine Deathclaws crawling up between the floorboards or tearing through the walls. She tried listening to Piper shift in her bed on the second floor but that failed to help much. Nat peeped out a few times to examine their new roommate but never went beyond that. Nora feigned sleep every time. Whether that helped comfort the girl or not was unclear but she felt it was better than just staring back.

By the time dawn began to break, Nora felt no more rested than she had the night before. She slipped out, hopefully without waking Piper, and made her way outside the city, using the first rays of sunlight to convince herself she had actually kept her promise to the woman.

A few raiders rose early with her and after a few skirmishes Nora decided to call off her little patrol. She felt stiff and ungainly. Her feet never seemed to land where she wanted them to and even crouching behind cover caused her legs to protest.

Piper was only barely stirring when she returned to her bed for the night. Good. Nora appreciated being given a free room and the last thing she wanted to do was mess it up by making Piper worry about her.

But even as Nora set down her gear and feigned sleep, she watched Piper descend the stairs, hair a disheveled mess and a threadbare nightshirt taking the place of her trench coat. Nora could not help but smile. She could get used to this.


	6. The Power of the Press

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nora finds one of Piper's old articles

The days soon began to pass more easily. Returning to Diamond City became something to look forward to rather than just something she did. Staying with Piper saved her the harassment and feeling of uneasiness that usually came with staying at the Dugout and, truth be told, it felt good being around a friend again.

Once Nora discovered Piper had been hiding a perfectly good rooftop balcony, she decided to spend most of her time there. She kept her radio on and browsed for distress calls but for once she was glad when none came over the air. Her trips outside started to become shorter, too. A few raider or mutant street brawls and she would be back in town.

Part of it was a desire to keep the city safe, but mostly it was for herself. Not only had her encounter in the Glowing Sea shaken her but nothing had come of it. She could have just stayed home. If she had died there, it would not have been as a rescuer, but as the victim of an ambush, her caps and gear the only reason for her death.

Such were the thoughts of a deeply cynical woman, and she knew it.

Piper never seemed to take a break. Every morning she was on the street, printing new flyers or chasing down officials with some new crisis to contend with. A few months ago and she would have looked like the most obnoxious woman in the world. Now Nora could see what she was doing, what she was up against. It was like watching one woman trying to bail water out of a sinking ship, except the ship had a thousand other passengers and not one seemed to want to grab a bucket.

And yet she never tired. People hated her. Even as she kept the walls from crumbling, in some cases literally, they scoffed and turned their noses up. They would pick up that paper, gasp at the headlines, and then spit on the woman who printed them.

Nora’s cynicism deepened.

It was on one windy day that she spotted one such leaflet tacked to a notice board. Curious what the daily news was, she popped it off and started to read. _Diamond City: Safety for All, Humans Only._

Someone was stoking the fires today. Nora shook her head and started to turn away when she caught sight of another article. Today’s had been tacked over the top of it and, with it gone, Nora could clearly read the bold print across the top.

_Super Mutants Invade Diamond City._

With a smile, she took this one down and started to read. Less a flyer and more a full news article, it had to be maneuvered out from under a dozen other more recent press clippings. This must have been printed just after Nora had left the city. Remembering Piper’s promise to feature her in an article, she decided to see if the reporter was as good as her word.

_Everyone in Diamond City knows danger lurks just beyond the Wall. It keeps us safe, we tell ourselves. We give thanks to it and pray for its blessing even as evils lurk just beyond, probing for a seam to rip. But how well do we remember the danger? How many children growing up in the shadow of the Wall have never seen a Super Mutant? A raider attack? A Deathclaw?_

_Sometimes, fellow citizens, we can forget just how close that danger is, and that even the Wall cannot hold back such a rising tide forever._

Nora sat down at the noodle bar and kept going. It read like a cautionary tale, one that she had the misfortune of seeing firsthand. Whether or not she was featured, the battle inside the stadium was an experience she did not want to revisit. She had just started to skim when one bit caught her attention.

_The heroics of Diamond City’s finest are well-known. Every day they patrol our streets, not just inside the wall but outside, where the only thing separating them from these monsters we see in nightmares is a thin bit of padding and the barrel of a gun. Such acts of selfless valor cannot be understated, but, as we all saw that day, there was another sort of heroism at work. I am referring to the acts of one outsider by the name of Nora._

At that moment, Piper’s voice cut through her reading. “Look at you, reading the news like a real citizen. We’ll get you moved in yet. Is that today’s? I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.”

Nora managed a short. “No.”

Piper took the stool beside her. “Huh, usually they’ve all been burned by now. Which one…”

She trailed off as she saw the title. Nora looked up but said nothing. Piper had turned a shade of red that nearly matched her coat. “Yeah, well, don’t read too much into it. People needed a good story after that.”

“For many of us,” Nora read aloud. “That terrible day seemed to last forever.”

Piper made a grab for the paper. “I know what it says, I wrote it. Come on, you don’t need to read that.”

Nora hopped off the stool and kept going, eyes riveted on the paper. “It started so suddenly that no one knew what was happening. I myself was arguing with this heroic stranger when she selflessly threw herself at me, someone she barely knew and certainly despised, pushing me out of the way of the fire. Even after saving me from death, she urged me to stay in safety as she went to fight for a city that was not hers.”

Piper had followed her and was still grabbing at the paper. “Remember how frustrating it was when I didn’t listen? I’m serious. I wrote that as a propaganda piece. It was just to cheer people up.”

Nora talked over her while fending her off with one arm. “Thinking of my sister, I ran to the school, but only made it alive because once again this stranger was there for us. With a single shot, she hit a target that none of our security could even see. As bullets swept the streets and the roar of mutants filled my ears, I saw many familiar faces running for cover. Perhaps they thought, as I did, of their families. Perhaps they ran, and there is no shame in that. But this outsider, this stranger, did not run.”

Piper grabbed Nora’s arm and managed to pin it under her shoulder. Nora leaned further away, reading the next lines in a rush. “Braving the streets alone, many of our soldiers saw this woman taking on two or three mutants at a time, bloodied from a dozen wounds but never shrinking from the fight.”

Finally the paper was snatched from her hand. Piper pulled it away but did not step back. Nora just stared at her, mouth open as she tried to make a sound.

“Hero,” she finally got out. “You called me a hero.”

Piper let her breath out in a rush. “I know.”

They stood there in silence as they both tried to catch their breath. Nora was shaking her head in disbelief. “You said I gave people hope.”

Piper nodded again and looked down at her boots. “I know,” she said quietly.

Nora’s mouth worked a dozen sentences before finally making a sound. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Thank you?” Piper suggested but she was still far too red for it to be flippant.

Nora remained paralyzed. “Piper…”

She rolled her eyes and made a nervous laugh. “Not you too. I get enough criticism from the rest of the city.”

“Piper, that was amazing.”

Now her face did match her coat. “You deserved it,” she mumbled. “You got yourself shot up pretty bad so I figured I’d go easy on you.”

Nora could only shake her head. “I mean it. I can’t tell you what it means to read that. Thank you.”

Piper, the unflappable, silver-tongued journalist of the Commonwealth, lost the power of speech.

_Kiss her._

It was not a thought but a will that started in her chest and threatened to shatter her ribs as it pulled her toward the other woman. Had Piper not been staring at the ground, muttering and backing away, she might have.

She mumbled something, rubbed the back of her neck, and blushed an even darker red. “Yeah, well, I guess, I just, wow, it’s hot out here. We should go inside. I have to go inside.”

Nora followed her but gave her some space and let her talk to herself all the way up the street. Going inside helped nothing but it did give them both a place to sit and be at least a little alone. Piper composed herself and returned to whatever she had been doing before Nora had so distracted her.

Nora hid on the roof with her thoughts. She should have just kissed her. At least that was what she told herself. It should have been that simple but every time she thought about going back and doing it everything just felt wrong. The moment was wrong. The setting was wrong. Even the lighting was wrong.

Her radio sat by her chair, quietly piping out Diamond City radio. She kept it there. Any distress calls out in the wastes went unheard as Nora pined over a girl. It was enough to make her sick but not enough to make her do anything about it.

So she stared at the stands and watched the sun crawl its way down to earth. She needed to leave, clear her head of thoughts of Piper. The sound of gunfire cleared the head like little else. A few firefights in the crumbling cityscape and she would forget all about the woman with the stupid press cap. Her mind would stop babbling endlessly about how perfect Piper was and how blind she had been not to see it when they first met.

Piper was playing with Nat when Nora came downstairs. There was an awkward goodbye and she made up some flimsy excuse for her to leave while Piper looked everywhere but at her. At the end of it, Piper did not stop her, an act that somehow made this all her fault.

Of course it was not her fault at all. Nora should have had the guts to just come out and tell her how this sun-blasted pile of radioactive rubble was the only place she wanted to be as long as Piper was there to share in it.

But she did not have the guts. Nora practically ran out of Diamond City. Things were simpler out there where everything wanted to kill you. She never worried about making a fool of herself. She just moved from ruin to ruin, the low mutter of gunfire always there for company.

It was easy. Run. Stop. Shoot. Stimpack. Move on.

Repeat until dead.


	7. Rock Bottom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper makes a mistake with lethal consequences, Nora decides they need to talk

The Commonwealth had an odd charm to it. Something about the ruins seemed romantic to Nora, like they were broken but not gone, down but not out. She could just imagine the motivational posters they would have printed as the sun rose over the decaying skyscrapers. She saw bold text and single words. Perseverance. Strength. Dreams.

The mystique was diminished only slightly by the constant chatter of machine gun fire in the distance. Little pockets of life, determined against impossible odds to scratch out a living in the rocks should have been more inspiring than frightening. That was, of course, before one remembered that the life was probably ten feet tall, green, and hungry.

Nora let her head loll against the exposed concrete of her current shelter. Just another of those many buildings left to go to dust, this one had been an apartment complex in its pre-war life. Now it had one vagrant as its only tenant and a somewhat severe roach problem.

And now that vagrant wanted to leave. Diamond City was only a few hours away on foot. She kept telling herself that she needed food and water and ammunition and sleep.

And Piper.

Her head thumped against the concrete. Could the woman not leave her alone for five minutes? Even the knowledge that her life could end, quite literally, in the blink of an eye did little to distract her. Sure, a hail of bullets had kept her mind off the reporter just this morning, but it had been only briefly. And it had been a lot of bullets.

Something scuffled through the street below her. Rubble crunched under heavy boots while metal and plastic clacked together to produce the exact sound of soldiers on the march. The sharp reports of a high-caliber rifle made her jump but only jostled her train of thought rather than derailing it.

That settled it. There were Gunners less than ten feet from her hiding place and she still could not focus. She had to see Piper. One way or another, this had to end.

She crept out of the building in the midday light and started back to the east. Echoing gunshots chased each other up and down the otherwise silent streets. Climbing over drifts of rubble, just her and her rifle, brought back that odd, romantic feeling. It was her against the world, may the best shot win.

At least there was enough focus in her to stay alert while moving in the open. Piper, bless her heart, left Nora’s mind free and instead tugged steadily at her chest. Raiders and Ghouls wandered about in the middle distance, occasionally appearing as hazy, half-shadows darting through gutted buildings. A pack of feral dogs pulled at something big and dead one block over. The spectacle thoroughly killed any romance left in her wandering the ruins. It made her feel less a stalwart survivor and more a terrified combatant in a foreign world. The best shot meant nothing. It was the last shot that counted.

The odd thought occurred that Piper had grown up in this. This was normal for her. Seeing a diner with skeletal patrons still waiting for their coffee was probably comforting. Nothing had been through to disturb the remains. It made Nora feel spoiled by comparison.

She reached the city at dusk, drained but determined to spill her heart and soul in front of Piper before pinning her to the wall with her mouth. The gate passed in a blur, the stairs were climbed and descended before she knew she was on them, and there she was. With a deep, unhelpful breath, she crossed the threshold of Publick Occurrences.

Empty.

Nora checked upstairs in the vain hope that Piper was in bed waiting for her. She was not, but that may have been for the best. She wanted to talk to the woman first. Well, not really, but she should. She wanted this to go right.

With nowhere else to go and no sign of Nat, Nora started walking the city. It was nearly dark by the time she wandered down the right street. Peering into an alleyway that led into the darkness, Nora saw the familiar red of Piper’s coat. The sight set her scrambling down the alley, her old panic replaced by a newer, sharper one.

“Piper!” Nora ran to her side. “Are you alright?”

Piper lifted her head. Her eyes were red. That struck Nora harder than anything else she could have seen. What on earth could possibly bring this woman to tears?

“Oh. Hey, Nora,” Piper scrubbed her eyes to little effect.

Nora knelt beside her, heart still in her throat as she looked for anything from gunshot wounds to paper cuts. “What happened? Are you hurt?”

Piper tried clearing her throat. “No, I’m fine. Just…” she shook her head and for one horrifying moment she looked like she would break down right there. “I screwed up.”

Nora kept looking, still not quite believing that this was Piper. Piper was invincible. Bulletproof. “What happened?”

Piper wiped at one of her eyes and looked away. “You weren’t supposed to see this.”

Nora tried to settle in beside her. The alley was full of mud and windblown trash, leaving Nora sitting almost in Piper’s lap. “I won’t tell anyone,” she promised, hoping to get a rise out of her.

It worked, but only just. “Not what I meant,” Piper said with the barest hint of a smile.

“You know you can talk to me, Piper. Just tell me what happened.”

The woman was still shaking her head. “About a week ago, I found evidence someone had been replaced by a Synth. He was acting differently, talking to the wrong people. I even had him in two places at once the night he was… replaced. So I did what I always do.”

Piper looked at the ground and looked sick. Nora gave her a nudge. “You tried to save the world.”

Now she did smile. It was like seeing a single star through heavy fog: beautiful, but not nearly so much as on a clear night. “I did. I told Security, I told the Mayor, I printed up flyers. I practically shouted it from the rooftops. After a few days his wife came to my office. She begged me to stop, told me I was a monster and that she knew her husband when she saw him. The next day he came by and threatened me. I kept after him. I knew I was right.”

That single star began to dim. “Two days ago, his daughter came by. She asked me to stop hurting her daddy,” Piper was staring at her boots now. “She was six. Nat knew her from school. What was I supposed to do?”

When Nora did not have an answer, Piper continued. “Security came by to talk to me. I told them to leave him alone for a while so I could check him out. I had to make sure.”

All the light of that lonely star died. “Last night, they caught him trying to sneak out of the city. He killed two guards before they got him,” she swallowed hard before finishing. “They went to tell his wife and daughter when it was all over. That’s when they found them.”

Nora watched as Piper pulled her knees up to her chest. “She was six, Nora. Six. And it’s my fault.”

That last broke her heart. Nora settled in beside Piper and put one arm around her. It was her own vain attempt at shielding a broken woman from the world outside. Piper was trembling as Nora pulled her in closer. She deserved better than this. She had tried to make this place better. No one tried to make things better anymore. Her head fell softly against Nora’s shoulder. She was so light.

“You can’t blame yourself,” Nora said quietly. “You did everything you could.”

Piper scoffed. At least she tried to. Her voice died and could only manage a weak cough as she shoved weakly at Nora with one shoulder. “Of course it’s my fault. We’re supposed to keep them safe. I’m supposed to protect them from things like this.”

“I know,” Nora soothed. “And you do. Remember? You keep Diamond City safe for folks like me.”

Not even a chuckle. Just a shift. Nora looked down at the mass of black hair spilling so perfectly over her shoulder. Everything about her was just perfect. She would have done anything to keep her safe from this.

“I got in over my head. I always do,” Piper’s voice was cold and dead. She was at the end of her rope and Nora knew it. She had been there before.

Nora peered out of the alley. No one seemed to notice the two women huddling together in the dark. No one seemed to be around at all. They were in their own little world.

“Do you remember,” Nora began slowly. “When we first met?”

Another leaden shift. “You fought off an army to save those refugees.”

“I saved twelve of them,” Nora’s voice was barely a whisper and even now threatened to be choked away by the memory. “Do you know how many there were when I found them?”

Piper shook her head. Nora swallowed the lump in her throat and told her. “Fifty.”

She felt Piper’s head turn further into her shoulder. “Fifty?”

Nora nodded. “That was after the raider attack. I don’t know how many died in that fight but fifty is how many I tried to protect on my own. Just me against the wasteland to keep all of them safe.”

Piper twisted to look up at her, all bleary eyes and mussed hair. Even now she was breathtaking. It brought a smile to Nora’s lips even as she forced herself not to weep at her own story. “I remember all of them. I still think about them, about how I should have saved them. How I should have been faster or smarter. How I killed them.”

“You didn’t,” Piper murmured. “You saved as many as you could.”

“So did you,” Nora squeezed the woman’s shoulder. “You kept the ones I brought in safe. You gave them a second chance just as much as I did. You’ve saved so many people here, Piper.”

Piper’s expression was still one of a woman all but buried. Nora still held her gaze, unwilling to let the woman give up. “You do get in over your head, but you always find a way out. You always come back, no matter how hard you get hit. That takes courage, Piper. That’s why everyone here looks to you, even if they don’t want to admit it.”

And it was why Nora was so madly in love with her. Piper leaned back against Nora’s shoulder, turning away as she did. Nora let her go. She had seen that little star peeking through the clouds. At least she had done that much. Whatever Nora could say of her life, it did not lack for sad stories. One of these days she would need to change that.

Piper was quiet for a long time before she spoke again. “How do you do it?” she asked.

“Do what?”

“Keep going back out there?”

_Because I can’t get you out of my head? Because just thinking about you drives me crazy and I’m too scared to just tell you?_

Nora pulled Piper a bit closer. “For a long time I didn’t have anything else. I did it because I’d lost everyone I cared about and I didn’t want anyone else to go through that.”

Piper shifted and found Nora’s eyes with hers. “And now?”

Nora tried to smile but could not stop thinking about how close they had gotten. She wanted so badly to kiss her, to comfort her and tell her everything was going to be alright. The feeling of Piper’s shaking breaths on her chin was more than a little distracting.

“Now,” she managed. “I have something to lose. I want to keep that from happening.”

_Someone to lose._

It was not the most inspiring thing she could have said. Piper, of all people, could have said something far better. She was in the process of turning red and apologizing for saying it in the first place when she noticed Piper’s face starting to brighten.

Star by star, the sky lit up. It was the most beautiful thing Nora had ever seen. “Something to lose,” Piper whispered.

Nora smiled nervously. “Kind of silly, isn’t it?”

“No. Not at all.”

If Nora had been standing her knees would have given out. She wanted to look away but Piper’s eyes held her more firmly than her weight pressing softly against her shoulder. She wanted to kiss her. She wanted even more to pull away. This was not how she had imagined it. This was Piper. The moment had to be just as perfect as she was. She could not rush this, could not ruin it by going too fast.

“Thanks,” Piper whispered.

Nora, still firmly hypnotized by Piper’s stare, said nothing. After what felt like hours, she noticed Piper was smirking. She was back. “Want to help me up?”

“Yes,” Nora shot to her feet. “Yeah, sorry. What, uh, what were we sitting in?”

Piper smiled wider. “I don’t know. It just seemed like such a nice place to wallow in my misery.”

She took Nora’s hand and let herself be pulled up. Piper’s grip was soft but firm enough to keep Nora from letting go after she stood. She steadied her feet and Nora felt something press against her side. Nora’s hand went to her hip. Piper’s was already there. Again she drew maddeningly close. Again Nora struggled desperately to say that perfect something. She had almost found that perfect something when Piper’s hand let go of hers and moved up her arm to settle just below her shoulder. Whatever she had been about to say was gone in a rush.

“The couch.”

Nora started. “What?”

“It’s a bit small, isn’t it?” Piper whispered. “The couch.”

All the blood in Nora’s body rushed to her face. “No! No, it’s fine. I like it.”

“Are you sure?” Piper’s words were so soft the breath of them barely touched her. “It just seems a bit cramped.”

“No, it’s fine. I like the couch,” Nora was babbling and she knew it but could not for the life of her make it stop. “It’s comfortable. And the door is there. I can protect you. And Nat. I wouldn’t want to leave.”

Piper’s face was unreadable. Or maybe it was just as simple as ‘I’m not asking you to leave.’ Nora was too busy panicking to figure it out. She had pulled away from Piper without meaning to and was now looking frantically down the alley.

“I haven’t seen Nat tonight. We should go look for her. She could be out. She’s probably looking for you,” Nora went on and on. She felt like she was sleepwalking. Her body moved, the world spun, and her mouth ran wild. All she could do was watch and wonder why no one stopped her.

“Nora.”

Piper’s voice cut through the storm. Nora wheeled like a drunk. She had not gone that far, only a few steps. It felt like miles. Piper’s eyes were fixed on her, steadying Nora just by touching her. Nora could have lost herself in them. They were joyful but not laughing, wanting but not needing. They asked so much of her but promised so much more.

Nora felt the world settle under her. Everything stopped spinning. After thrashing about in the open sea, the water was suddenly as calm as a puddle. A great, invisible hand lifted her up from the depths and set her down with all the care in the world. Suddenly everything felt real. This world was not just some waking nightmare for her to wander through. Everyone here was more than just a fever dream brought on by so much loss.

For the first time since waking, Nora knew where she was.

“We should go home,” Piper said gently.

Nora hung limply in the woman’s gaze. “Home,” she said, rolling the word on her tongue as she tried to remember how to breathe. She had a home now.

And there was nothing she wanted more.


	8. Can't Take A Hint

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Piper loses her patience

Nora stared at the far wall of Piper’s house. From her place on the couch, she could see the dimly-lit staircase leading up to where Piper had her bed. She had been staring at it for hours. How much longer, she wondered, before she found the courage to climb them.

She closed her eyes. She should just sleep. The constant feeling of butterflies in her stomach was probably from her dinner. And Piper was her friend. Her very good friend.

Her very sweet, very intelligent, very attractive friend who was lying in bed so close she could hear her breathing, hear her twisting in her sheets.

The boards creaked and her eyes snapped open. Nothing. Just the wind.

She tried to close them again but they had not seen enough. They fixed on the stairs. A light was burning by Piper’s bed and spilled a soft, golden glow around the corner and into the house. From here, it looked so warm. So inviting. So close.

She squeezed her eyes closed again. This, she decided, would be her last night in this house. If she could not go five minutes without wanting to jump into bed with the woman then it was a bad idea for her to be here.

If only Nat were here. Having Piper’s little sister sleeping just around the corner would have done wonders to kill the thoughts in Nora’s head.

But no. Nat was gone. The house was empty. Just her and Piper. Alone.

More rustling from the stairs. Nora’s eyes fixed on the light as a shadow passed across it. She was coming downstairs. She could probably hear her breathing like marathoner and was coming to tell her to shut up.

The light winked out.

Nora let out a long, silent sigh. Now she could sleep. Piper would be asleep. Piper was not lying in bed thinking about the woman crashing on her couch.

The floorboards creaked. She had already told herself it was just the wind when she heard it again. And again.

Bare feet padded down the stairs with agonizing slowness. Nora forced herself to keep her eyes closed. Whatever Piper was doing, she would be back upstairs in no time. Then Nora could go back to staring at the ceiling and wondering –

“Why is it,” Piper purred in her ear. “That you can never just take a hint?”

Her heart skipped beat after beat until Nora thought she was going to die there. Then the feeling of warm breath on her lips started it back up and sent it doing cartwheels. She struggled for something smart to say. She had to say something.

Piper’s lips brushed against hers and everything else just stopped existing. She lost herself in that moment. The tingling warmth on her chin, the way her lips felt when they were just about to be touched. She felt her weight settle over her, comfortably pinning her to the couch. She felt one hand slide beneath her neck even as she felt her own start grasping at Piper’s ratty nightshirt. She kissed her, over and over until it was the only thing she could ever remember doing in her life.

The feeling of Piper pulling away nearly broke Nora’s heart. Piper made a noise and it took Nora several moments to realize she wanted an answer to her question. Why was it that she could never just take a hint? How much sooner could she have had this beautiful woman in her arms?

_Say something clever._ She had to say something clever or she would lose this moment forever.

“The couch is a bit small, isn’t it?”

The sound of Piper’s quiet laughter could have been her last and she would not have regretted a thing. “I’m so glad you agree.”

She kissed her again and again until her lungs burned. Piper was smiling against her lips but still managed to keep kissing her. “You know, there are other places with more room.”

Nora rolled her eyes and laughed. “Five more minutes. Let me enjoy this.”

Piper obliged. She let Nora hold her, let one of her legs slide so gracefully under Nora’s. She wrapped herself around the luckiest girl in the world as easily and gracefully as though she had been thinking of it all her life. Nora could barely think clearly enough to come up for air, and every time she did, it never seemed to help. All she could smell was Piper, all fresh newspaper and ink, rainwater and well-worn leather, and all it did was take her breath away.

Long fingers tangled themselves in her hair and tugged her gently back against the couch. She lay there, staring up at the other woman for what could have been days. No, not just the other woman. Piper. Piper was kissing her. Piper was tangling her fingers in her hair. Piper was kissing her until she forgot to breathe.

Black hair tickled her cheeks as it swept over her. With one hand, Nora brushed it back over Piper’s ear. Piper cocked her head. “What?”

Nora was sure she was grinning like an idiot and she could not have cared less. “Nothing. Just… you.”

Another of those quiet, airy laughs. “You have a way with words, don’t you?”

Nora grabbed at her shirt and pulled her closer. “We both know you’re the clever one.”

This time Nora did not let her pull away. She wanted to tell her how much she meant to her, that her bravery and her selflessness made her a hero. That she would have done anything to keep her safe. That she loved her.

But she could never quite find the words. So she pulled her in closer. If her words failed, then the parts that made them would not, could not leave any doubt.

Eventually they did move upstairs. Nora did her best to show Piper exactly what she meant to her and she liked to think at least some of it got through. But Piper meant the world to her. That was something that would take a lot of long nights to explain.

And then there would be the mornings after. Nora could spend hours just watching the woman sleep, running her fingers through her hair and wondering if she should feel guilty for having so much joy all to herself. She always expected Piper to crack an eyelid and make her feel like an idiot for lavishing so much attention on her while she was trying to sleep.

It was not until long after light had begun creeping under the door that Piper finally woke. Her eyes were dancing as they focused slowly on Nora’s. It was in that one look that the full weight of what had happened, of what they were doing, came crashing home in that one look, just as it had in the alley the night before.

Between Piper’s bleary eyes and her sleep-heavy voice, all it took was the smallest word. “Hey.”

Nora beamed. “Hey.” She was home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you've had as much fun following along with the story as I've had writing it. This was my first experience writing fan fiction and posting it online and I’d like to say thank you for making it such an enjoyable one. You’ve been a wonderful audience.
> 
> Originally, this is where I had planned on leaving our happy couple, dropping the curtain with Nora wrapped neatly around Piper’s little finger. But, with their story growing on me every time I posted a chapter, I’m no longer sure I’m ready to say goodbye. Their adventures didn’t stop the night Piper lost her patience.
> 
> So, with some generous encouragement from a few of you and way too much help from my beta reader, I’ve settled on a plot for the next part of their story. Obviously it will be a bit different, but I hope you will find enjoyment in reading it all the same. I’ll be starting work on it immediately, so with any luck, I will be able to get you something halfway decent before you turn 90. Thank you again for reading, and I hope to see you around for the next story.


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